


The Verge

by ElementalSides (Syrika)



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Aliens, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Human Sides, IDK yet if janus will show up, Narrator Virgil, Remy is Erik and her name is Remi now, but roughly: thomas is jake; roman is cassie; logan is ax; virgil is marco; patton is tobias, first person POV, morphing, the characters don’t line up exactly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26506921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrika/pseuds/ElementalSides
Summary: “My name is Virgil.I can’t tell you my last name. Or my friends’ last names. Or the name of our city. If we reveal too much, our enemies might find us. Then there’d be nothing standing between the Earth and total devastation.”***Virgil, Thomas, Logan, Patton and Roman are the Animorphs: humans charged with defending humanity from the alien threat known as the Yeerks. Virgil considers himself the safe and rational one, but he’s getting tired of reminding Roman that their job isn’t all fun and games.Now isn’t the time to make any mistakes, though. Not when the Yeerks’ next big move is looming on the horizon. Not when Patton is starting to have these strange dreams. . .
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	The Verge

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y’all! So this fanfic was inspired by me reading the whole Animorphs series last summer. I really wanted to take the Sanders Sides characters, insert them into the setting, and try to nail the style and tone of the Animorphs books as well as I could. (Except for in my version, everyone is gay.)
> 
> I only have two chapters written at the time of posting this, so please let me know if you’re interested and I’ll try to write more! 🤗 But anyway, I hope you enjoy!

My name is Virgil.

I can’t tell you my last name. Or my friends’ last names. Or the name of our city. If we reveal too much, our enemies might find us. Then there’d be nothing standing between the Earth and total devastation.

When someone tells you Planet Earth is under an alien siege, you might laugh. You might picture little green men or Marvin the Martian. But this is real, and it’s much more terrifying than anything you’d find in a cartoon.

They’re called Yeerks. Picture a blind, deaf, and mute gray slug. It can’t do much but wiggle around and feed on Kandrona rays, its source of food. But if you think it’s harmless, you’re mistaken. If you let it get near your head, it’ll crawl through your ear canal and enter your skull. It’ll wrap itself around your brain. Suddenly, the Yeerk becomes you. It controls your every movement, your every sentence. All you can do is watch with horror as the Yeerk assumes your everyday life. You are now a Controller, and you are helpless to do anything but watch as the rest of the world falls to the Yeerks.

Except we’re not helpless.

My friends and I make up a team called the Animorphs. A while ago, an Andalite – this blue centaur-like alien with a wickedly sharp blade on its tail – crashed on Earth and gave us the power to morph into any creature by absorbing its DNA. Sadly, the Andalite, Elfangor, didn’t survive past his encounter with the leader of the Yeerk invasion of Earth, Visser Three. We watched as Visser Three, the only Yeerk to control the body of an Andalite, murdered Elfangor in cold blood. We were helpless then. But now we’ve become the biggest thorn in their side since earplugs.

Looking at us, though, you probably wouldn’t believe it.

Thomas, Roman, Patton, Logan and I were hanging out in Roman’s barn. The barn is what happens when two horse girls get married and raise a bunch of beautiful horse babies (and one son) together. They also happen to be vets, and the barn is filled with all manner of growling, squawking roadkill they’re nursing back to health.

At that moment, Roman was arguing with Logan about a concert coming up next week. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, fur-for-brains!” he protested. “There’s nothing wrong with just taking a peek!”

<Unless there happen to be any Controllers in the crowd,> Logan said coolly.

Logan’s real name is Logaculan-Cirrinial-Forougth, nickname courtesy of Roman because his full name is a nightmare to pronounce. He’s an Andalite – specifically, Elfangor’s little brother. He’s an invaluable help in the fight against the Yeerks, and he’s one of my best friends. But he’s calculating. You can tell when he loses patience for one of Roman’s harebrained schemes.

“Not even a Controller could notice a fly slipping past security!” reasoned Roman.

“You’d get stomped,” I said.

“Besides, flies can’t hear very well. How could you enjoy those sweet tunes?” Thomas added.

“Mouse, then!” Roman shouted.

<Could you keep it down, kiddos? I was just getting a little shuteye.>

All of us fell silent as the thoughtspeak drifted down from the rafters.

“Sorry, Patton,” Thomas said. “We’ll let you sleep.”

<Well, now I’m curious. What’s this about a concert?>

The dark shape fluttered down from its perch. Arguing about turning into animals might be fun and all, but Patton is a living reminder of the dangers of morphing. He used to be fun, easygoing, and perpetually cheerful – he was the glue that held our team together. Now he’s a southeastern myotis...a bat. After staying in morph longer than two hours during this harrowing mission a few weeks back, he lost the ability to morph. He can only come out at night to eat insects, and he usually stays near Roman’s barn to avoid owls and other predators.

Patton claims he’s adjusting to the change. After all, bats are just puppies with wings, right? But none of us can look at Patton without feeling the guilt ooze down our throats. It’s especially bad for Thomas, who had told us all to morph bats that night. He didn’t know one of us would spend the rest of his life as one.

We make quite the bunch of freakshows. Thomas, our leader, who hasn’t sung in months. Roman, who thrives on danger. Logan, the one who keeps us all from killing ourselves. Patton, the ray of sunshine turned creature of the night. 

And then there’s me. I don’t think anybody likes me very much. But that’s because this team needs to remember that we’re not playing games here. This is real, and it’s life or death. The only way to survive is to not trust anyone or anything.

“Roman, who’s the lead singer of this band you like?” I asked.

He perked up. “Monika Goldwater, of course!”

“What if she was a Controller?”

Roman deflated immediately. “She  _ can’t  _ be a Controller, Mr. No-Fun. She’s Monika Goldwater! She’s perfect!”

“Which makes her a great target,” I said. “Lots of devoted fans.”

“But she’s  _ not,  _ I know it!”

“If you say so,” I shrugged. “But when you’re skittering around the concert floor in mouse mode, just think about the chances that this Monika Goldwater has an evil, ugly Yeerk in her brain. That it’s not her angelic voice coming out of her mouth at all. That she’s touring this very city just to throw a wrench into Andalite Bandit activity.”

“That’s awful!” Roman wailed. “How am I supposed to enjoy her concert now?”

“Exactly,” I said grimly.

“Helpful as always, Virgil,” Thomas butted in. “But we didn’t come here to talk about the concert. We came here to discuss our new lead.”

We settled down to listen to Thomas’ report. I turned down the volume of my headphones. Patton flapped back to his perch. Logan stood near the door, keeping watch. As for Roman, he sulked for a second before sitting cross-legged on the ground – he has this magical ability to repel dirt from his clothes, even though he likes wearing white.

“Our Chee informant has discovered a place where the Yeerks plan on building a new pool,” Thomas began.

<You talked to Remi?!> Patton said excitedly. <Did you tell her I said hi?>

“I tried, but I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.” Remi is never around when we need her. She’s loud and has an unhealthy addiction to coffee. But she’s also a member of the Chee, a race of androids who have infiltrated human society. They follow a strict code of nonviolence, so Remi can’t help us out in combat. But she and her fellow androids spy on the Yeerks and provide us with invaluable help.

“Anyway, Remi was particularly upset about the location they’re planning on.”

“Why, where is it?” Roman asked.

“Starbucks.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Typical.

<Starbucks,> Logan said. <Is this an interstellar organization?>

“No, Logan. It’s a coffee chain.”

<Do they have pastries?> Logan, being an alien with no mouth, goes a little crazy whenever he morphs human and gets the chance to eat. He really likes fruit, sugar, and sweet foods. You should never let him near a jar of jam unattended. Or a box of doughnuts. Or Roman’s shampoo.

“They do have pastries, but I doubt we’ll have time to get any. We need to do some spying to figure out how to take this Yeerk pool construction plan down.”

A Yeerk pool is a Yeerk hub straight out of the pits of hell. The biggest weakness of the Yeerks is that they need to return to these pools every three days to feed on Kandrona rays. Otherwise they die of starvation. There’s one in our town that runs underneath our school and most of the mall. I don’t know why they’re planning on building a second one so close to the first, but it can’t be good. But something else about what Thomas said sticks in my mind.

“When you say spying,” I said, “you don’t mean…”

“Of course I do!” Thomas said cheerfully, eliciting a groan from me. “Time to get small. Pick your favorite insect morph, boys.”


End file.
